Bolivia: crocos, Piranhas, anacondas and mosquitoes

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Let's go for a stay in the pampas: sensitive souls to abstain

In the northwest of Bolivia lies the Amazonian part of the country. For exploration, everything starts from Rurrenabaque.
Sometimes there are real moments of grace on a trip: Everything is going very well. You meet great, fun, cool, interesting people, the chance to see wild animals live, the nature is amazing, food is good, the locals are kind and hospitable. This adventure exists in Bolivia, but it requires you to forget comfort and safety for few days, because in the Bolivian pampas it is the jungle.

The adventure starts here: a 3m crocodile is hidden under the kitchen

 
Five days in a camp made up of shacks on stilts linked by wooden bridges that sometimes give way under the weight of our footsteps, it already gives an idea of what awaits the budding adventurers. The water isn’t deep but it’s full of crocodiles. There is no question of falling into it.
On the programme, anacondas fishing, boat trip, crocodile watching at night, swimming among pink dolphins and the nail, piranha fishing.
But there are also dazzling sunsets, terrifying thunderstorms, devouring mosquitoes and hilarious mud baths.
 
Next to the hut that serves as a kitchen, just next door, stands a huge crocodile, about 3 metres long. It is always there, a bit like a pet, it even has a name: Grandpa. He knows that chicken legs and necks regularly fall from the hut, so he waits there like a doggie.
We ask the adorable cooks to give us a few agapes for Grandpa which we tie to the end of a stick like a fishing rod so that he jumps out of the water to catch them. It’s funny though, he really has a lot of teeth.
 

Fishing Piranhas is easy, you just have to keep your fingers out of it

 
All you have to do is throw a rudimentary hook (a piece of wire) with a piece of meat attached to a piece of string. When it starts to get furiously agitated, you have to pull it back on board and that’s it.  Be careful not to do what you do at home and grab the fish with your hands. Small but strong, this carnivore is still able to bite! You must stun it cleanly and then kill it with a stab in the neck.
 

To observe the anacondas you need a lot of mud and courage!

 

The camp provides rubber boots for explorers. You have to make do with the stock. There’s little chance of finding a pair that fits the right size!  
Long trousers and a long-sleeved t-shirt are also in demand. The boat glides along the meanders of the Amazon and lands on an island. 
It takes a long walk to find the snakes and the water keeps rising. The boots quickly become submerged and the muddy, brackish water rises up to the navel. And no one wants to know what’s hiding in there…

We wanted adventure? Here it is! 

 

The anacondas are waiting for us, well hidden in the trees in this season. This part of the jungle also shelters other animals: anteater, capricious monkeys, toucans… A real pleasure!

Millions of mosquitoes, thousands of bats: Bolivia is wild!

 
The marshes are the mosquitoes’ favourite country. In the Amazonian pampas, these vampires are so numerous that they form buzzing clouds. There are so many of them that the talkative traveller risks swallowing them.
The best insecticide in the world is of very temporary effectiveness. Mosquitoes bite through the thickest jeans. In order to resist them, you have to impregnate your clothes with mosquito repellent. 
Even so, they will always find a patch of unprotected skin: fingertips, a piece of ear or even the scalp!
Suffering from the harassment of bugs is rewarded by the sight of bats as soon as the sun goes down. If the mosquitoes are numerous, so are they, and it’s time for dinner!  

This corner of Bolivia is full of crocodiles, mosquitoes, piranhas and snakes, but still?

 
A stay in the pampas is worth its weight in adventure. It starts with the bus trip that leaves La Paz on incredibly dangerous roads. On board a roaring bus with a surprisingly narrow chassis, you have to endure dizzying cliffs, wobbly bridges suspended over the void and have your heart set on the ground.
The pampas offer an incredible immersion in a pure wilderness with all the most beautiful things to see: hypnotic setting suns, the singing of the jungle in the dark, starry nights and spectacular wildlife.   

It's time to set off on an adventure!

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